Speed shoes



Au 5,1969 L. F. ISMAY 3,459,147

SPEE'D SHOES Filed June 2'7, 1966 IN VENTOR.

His Afiorney United States Patent 3,459,147 SPEED SHOES Louis Fletcher Ismay, Altamont, N.Y. (Box 96, Lansingburgh, Troy, N.Y. 12182) Filed June 27, 1966, Ser. No. 561,679 Int. Cl. B63b 43/10 US. Cl. 114-67 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Impacts that can be softened by cushioning have the overall intensity of their forces correspondingly (llIIllII- ished. This invention covers so-called speed shoes, these being either pneumatic or hydraulic impact cushioning apparatus to soften the impact of water against a boat, travelling through water, said apparatus being in the nature of a bag-like enclosure covering the front, bottom and sides of a boat, its purpose being to reduce the forces of water impacts against a boat and in this way increase the forward speed of said boat.

The human desire for increased speed while travelling in or over any medium is constantly manifest. Especially is this so while travelling in and through the water. My invention caters to this ever present urge by furnishing boats with what I term speed shoes. It may take the form of a structural addition to a boat, or it may be built, in the first place, as a portion thereof. Its prime purpose is to materially step up the speed of said boat, and at the same time increase the durability, usefulness and overall life of said boat to which it is attached or made a part thereof.

We are all familiar with what may happen to us on a rainy day when we go outside wearing rubbers. Rubber and wet surfaces are notably slippery. We must be most careful while walking or we will be suddenly upset by the lack of sufiicient friction between ourselves, and what, with our rubbers, we may be standing upon, that is wet.

This absence of friction between rubber and wet surfaces has made rubber bearings most practical around propeller shafts and ahead of the propellers in the construction and operation of ships. In this same connection rubber propeller shaft bearings have been in use for many years. Again this is full testimony as to the frictionless character of rubber or rubber like materials and continuously water wet surfaces. Artificial rubbers, such as silicones, neoprene, butadiene or other artificial rubber compounds become equally effective as does natural rubber in reducing friction between water and water wet surfaces.

During a baseball game, many of us have watched a catcher pull back his catchers mit as he has caught a fast ball being thrown to him by the pitcher. In this way he softens the blow of the speeding baseball, on his hands, as he catches it. In a similar fashion my invention softens the impact between a boat and the water in which it moves, and by thus reducing the blow of fluid forces opposed to the forward movement of the boat, the speed or the rate of travel of said boat through water, or the rate of its forward movement, is thereby increased.

Consequently my speed shoes increase a boats speed in two ways, first by making the boats surfaces more slippery (since they are of rubber or artificial rubber materials), and secondly, by cushioning the impact of the water forces that normally tend to impede the forward motion of said boat to which my speed shoes are attached or may form a part. In addition, they increase the durability and the overall life of the boat itself.

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In the drawings:

FIG, 1 is a plan view of a boat equipped with y speed shoes.

FIG. 2 is the side elevation of the boat illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the boat shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, taken at sections 3-3 in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the boat shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 at section line 44.

FIG. 5 is a section through a boat shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 at section 5-5 in said figures.

The boat shown in FIG. 1 may be a sailboat, a motor boat or the combination of the two. The boat is designated by numeral 1, its mast by numeral 2, on the drawmgs.

In FIG. 2 we see a side elevation of the boat in FIG. 1, showing the rudder 3, the propeller 4, the propeller shaft 5, and the centerboard 6 with its centerboard casing 7. Motor 8 drives the propeller 4 as it is shown in the figure.

The sides and bottom of this boat may be of any well known boat construction. It is preferably constructed to include my pneumatic or hydraulic speed shoe as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the speed shoe being preferably made of rubber or any of the rubber-like substances previously metioned. As and when needed I reinforce my rubber or rubber-like speed shoe covering, with cloth or Fibreglas cloth to give it additional toughness and thereby greater length of life. When the inner surface of my speed shoe is reinforced with cloth or Fibreglas cloth, it may be cemented to the boat hull with a suitable cement. When the rubber or rubber-like outer surface of the speed shoe appears as the outer surface to meet the water through which the boat must later travel, the extra reinforcement adds to the length of life or both the speed shoe and the boat itself. These parts are shown on the drawings as the wall (side or bottom) of the boat 10, the inner wall of the speed shoe 11 and thus outer wall of the speed shoe 12. The enclosure inside the speed shoe, that is reasonably leak-proof, holding air, in the pneumatically inflated speed shoe, or holding water or any other liquid that is suitable for making the speed shoe a hydraulic speed shoe, this enclosure is numeral 13, as it appears on the drawings. It is well within the scope of my invention to use any other gas or gases but air, where the speed shoe is to be pneumatic. The air or gas the pneumatic speed shoe uses is, of course, under pressure as it is Within a rubber tire on an automobile. Valves not shown are used to fill the speed shoes with gas or with liquid. If the speed shoe is penumatic it may heat up while it 1s being used, due to the incessant pounding it may receive in the course of its functioning. The same can be said when my speed shoe is hydraulically filled with liquid. We see this same condition in automobile tires during a long and gruelling automobile race. So, in this connection it is entirely in line with my invention to install an air cooling or a liquid cooling system to remove unwanted heats fro mthe speed shoes interior.

In my hydraulic speed shoes, in space 13, I can employ water, oil, or any greasy or gelatinous substance which has a give or yielding quality when the speed shoe is m use.

As prefiously stated, in the case of either the hydraulic or pneumatic speed shoes the hollow interior 13 is loaded with either liquid or gas (preferably air) through a valve or valves not shown in these drawings, the valve to function like the valve in a rubber auto tire. It is substantially the same type of valve, since it serves the same end of keeping the contents in chamber 13 without unwanted leakage.

I may also employ an air or a hydraulic pump to keep my pneumatic or hydraulic speed shoe at the proper pressure at all times. It is well within the purview of my inventive concept to thermostatically control the pressure and the temperature inside my hollow speed shoe at all times and under all operating conditions.

It is also within my invention to combine the pneumatic and hydroulic features of my speed shoe by partially filling my speed shoe with hydraulic liquid, and yet leaving an air or gas space within the speed shoe, so, that as the speed shoe travels at high speeds through the Water (as an outside liquid) it can yield repeatedly, again and again, all across the surface of my speed shoe, to soften the attack of the outside water (through which it is travelling) and thus increase the speed of the boat to which it is either attached or of which is forms a part.

It is well to include here the thought that the fluid material filling my speed shoe may, in certain instances, be, a self healing fluid. If the speed shoe is punctured, and then begins to leak, the material coming through the hole or holes in the speed shoe, will congeal and seal the puncture.

It is also within the scope of my invention to fill my speed shoes with a flame extinguishing liquid, capable of putting out fires. Since the contained liquid in the speed shoe is under pressure it may not need additional pressure to make it possible with a properly connected hose, to thus sprinkle the liquid contained in the speed shoe, quickly, over any fire in the boat that requires extinguishmg.

Let the broader aspects of this within invention be limited only by the claims hereto appended.

I claim:

1. A boat with its front, entirely across its bottom, and its sides covered with a resilient bag-like enclosure, with an inner and outer skin, separated by a filuid chamber, free of internal supports, firmly fastened to said boat, to

increase its operating speeds, and to insure it from having these same areas so' readily punctured as said boat slides through the Water, and to increase the durability, and lengthen the overall life of said boat.

2. A hydraulic speed shoe, comprising a resilient baglike enclosure, with an inner and outer skin, separated by a fluid chamber, free of internal supports, holding a liquid Without substantial leakage, and adapted to be firmly fastened to the surface of the underside of a vehicle to increase its operating speeds and the durability, usefulness, and overall life of said vehicle, while it is travelling through water.

3. A pneumatic speed shoe, comprising a resilient baglike enclosure, with an inner and outer skin, separated by a fluid chamber, free of internal supports, holding a gaseous substance under pressure without substantial leakage, and adapted to be firmly fastened on the sides, and entirely across the bottom, of a vehicle, to increase the speed, the durability, the usefulness, and the overall life, of said vehicle while it is travelling through water.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1916 Royston 11467 8/1962 Boggs 11467 ANDREW H. FARRELL, Primary Examiner 

